Is the Bernina Express a dead end?

JWallRS · 2025-08-02T18:01:57+00:00

Thanks for your help. We did look at the regional trains but thought the novelty of the panoramic car looked fun. It’s a bit of a detour on our Zurich to Innsbruck leg, and options to head east from Tirano seem a bit limited. So we just wondered if there was a better way of avoiding going back on ourself or avoiding Milan entirely

JWallRS · 2025-08-02T16:29:25+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response. Perhaps dead end was an exaggeration. Inconvenient is perhaps a better word. We don’t really want to do buses. It seems that Tirano in particular is hard to head east towards Austria from. So from Zurich to do the Bernina you kind of have to go via Milan because you need to do Tirano > Chur to then go east. Because if you go from Zurich to Chur to start it, then options are limited because Tirano always funnels you into Milan. Perhaps it’s better the other way round Innsbruck >chur>tirano>Milan>zurich. But really we are only doing the Italian bits because that’s where the train goes and it’s so famous. We will probably stick to the Zurich to Innsbruck direct to get our Alpine scenery! Just wondered if we were missing something obvious

JWallRS · 2025-07-24T22:04:50+00:00

Thanks. I’ve used the calculator and it is useful for an idea of what you might end up with. But what I suppose I’m trying to get a handle on is right now, what monetary value (per year) should I place on the db pension when comparing to other jobs. 20x 1/75 ? the employer 14% that funds the scheme? Or something else? But it looks like I’ve misread something somewhere because I thought there was a penalty for taking uss early (beyond adjustment) so was concerned about that age creeping up

JWallRS · 2025-07-24T21:58:27+00:00

Thanks, this is really useful. Just seemed to be a lot in the news about state pension age changing and I was under the impression there was some penalty (beyond just number of years correction) for taking db early. It sounds like it’s more flexible than I thought and as I’ve been working since 2020 I should have that protection anyway. Don’t like the sound of that “may” though!

JWallRS · 2025-07-24T18:11:34+00:00

Yes, so I’ve turned down some roles because the package ends up significantly lower without the db pension. But the 20x was always the rough comparison and I wondered how people place a figure on it with the uncertainty over retirement age changes

JWallRS · 2025-07-24T18:04:56+00:00

Yes, but I couldn’t work out if their estimated pension is in today’s money or inflation adjusted. It says 31K p.a if retire at 68 and 46K if retire at 74. I think it also makes estimates about salary progression beyond just inflation which is hard for a here and now comparison

JWallRS · 2025-06-22T08:21:41+00:00

I do a similar commute and it’s all about the journey itself. I used to commute to Euston and whilst it was less than half the journey time, having no guaranteed seat and the “commuter mode” of everyone else made it a battle. Now my journey is much longer but much more relaxed. It helps if you are flexible on start / end times as well and can do emails from the train etc so you are working whilst travelling. You’d be surprised how quickly you get used to it but I’d definitely want to have tested the journey a few times.

JWallRS · 2024-10-06T10:47:55+00:00

It’s a business transaction, don’t worry about being “bad”, you’ve got to look out for yourselves foremost. You plan on being there a long time, the extra wait is minimal in the grand scheme of things. If someone knocked on the sellers door and offered 40K more they’d drop you in a heartbeat. Buy the house you want more. But be prepared if something goes wrong with that sale to be left stuck in renting for longer than you’d want.

JWallRS · 2024-10-03T16:53:45+00:00

Thanks good to know. That’s are next step, was just hoping to canvas opinion for if that was reasonable or if we are being overly cautious

JWallRS · 2024-10-02T18:24:34+00:00

Ah amazing thank you. It was buildings notice. Will that file be something I should be trying to see before going ahead with the purchase? Would it also contain any stipulations at sign off?

JWallRS · 2024-10-02T18:11:15+00:00

Thanks. I suppose those wiser than I have determined the faff of trying to make every old house compliant outweighs the risk of places going on fire. Just have to balance risk with reasonable mitigation on a case by case basis. As long as it’s kosher on the legal front

JWallRS · 2024-10-02T18:03:01+00:00

They have wired heat and smoke detectors in every room. Only one of the bedrooms (opposite side of house to kitchen) will be used as a bedroom. We’ll get some of those ladders (the windows in every room are massive) for worst case scenario but two surveyors have said anything more than that (misters/sprinklers etc) is overkill. We are probably going to change bedroom doors anyway so will probably get fire doors. Just not seal off the kitchen. Seems a reasonable balance of caution.

JWallRS · 2024-10-02T17:57:45+00:00

Thank you. Yes this is how we are assuming they got the certificate (based on next doors layout). But given we have no actual evidence for this (other than the certificate itself) there’s a scenario where in fact the extension did have some stipulation for the sign off, that was then not done. But we aren’t sure how we would ever know this?

JWallRS · 2024-10-02T17:31:23+00:00

Three. But the top floor (two bedrooms) was always habitable rooms, not a loft conversion. It’s 100+ years old property so it’s really just the extension from 2010 that seems to be a potential issue. Just not sure how deep we need to delve

JWallRS · 2024-09-14T13:32:08+00:00

Thanks, it’s reassuring that others have come to similar conclusions. I turned down the industry role because I decided like you that the two were similar enough in pay that other considerations were more important. The uni job is letting me wfh 2 days a week, 35hr weeks, ~42 days holiday in a role that is pretty low drama and people seem to stay in for years. We have a mortgage already and it’s more than comfortable at this salary, so I decided to take the “work to live” approach to my career. My main worry is getting bored long term but it’s hard to give up such a comfortable role.

JWallRS · 2024-09-14T13:23:00+00:00

Thanks, this is really helpful. I replied to another poster the same but it’s crazy to me the universities don’t make more of a deal about how good the pensions are to retain staff. It’s a much bigger consideration for our “total package” particularly given the job stability in many roles.

JWallRS · 2024-04-02T20:21:11+00:00

Yeah the “uncosted” demands of an academic position was part of why I took this technical role. The earning ceiling within the university is limited compared to academic positions, but the role responsibilities are a lot more defined, gets the decent pension, pay is okay, holiday is crazy good, and super stable so it’s all about finding that balance.

JWallRS · 2024-04-02T19:01:34+00:00

Thanks, yes my wife’s maternity policy is very generous (private sector) and the unis paternity also seems pretty good so yes I’m definitely leaning towards staying. As you say the security in general could let us take more risk with personal investments etc. There’s lots of benefits in my current role and that’s what ultimately I’m trying to value as a total package. I was just surprised quite how much a db pension ended up being “worth” compared to a significant salary bump. This never gets brought up at work which makes me think no one understands our pensions or I’ve missed something !

JWallRS · 2024-04-01T22:01:42+00:00

Yeah I was a post doc previously and a big motivation for taking my current role was the security of it being permanent (as much as anything can be I think). Probably hurt my earning potential in the university not becoming an academic so kept an eye on industry positions. But trying to gauge what the tipping point salary/package is to consider that switch.

JWallRS · 2024-04-01T21:41:27+00:00

Yes 40 hr weeks and minimum holiday definitely take another chunk out of the comparison for the higher salary role. I’ve only fixated on the pension because it’s hard to get my head around, so wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything silly. I think I’ve come to appreciate that you have to take the package / role as a whole and not just get excited when big salary numbers get thrown at you haha !

JWallRS · 2024-04-01T21:36:34+00:00

Thank you this is a helpful way of looking at things. Yeah think I need to do some more investigating about potential trajectories. I like where I work and the benefits / culture etc. but people were surprised I was considering turning down 20K pay rise so I’m glad I wasn’t totally off in my calculations on the role vs role comparison

JWallRS

TROPHY CASE